True courage.

Monday: Dialogue, Lines, or Quotes


In Peaceful Warrior (2006), Nick Nolte's character, Socrates, gives wise insight:

"A warrior is not about perfection, or victory, or invulnerability. He's about absolute vulnerability. That's the only true courage." 

Action

Wednesday: Point of View

(I found this in my drafts and it's a post that I needed today.) ...............

Action.

Imagine if Joan Wilder (Romancing the Stone) remained in her New York City apartment searching for tissue and feeding her cat. Or if Jean Valjean (Les Misérables) spent his time curled up in a ball, whining. We wouldn't feel engaged in their problem, or really care about them much.

At some point in compelling stories, the main characters take action to solve their problems. The idea or solution might come from an outside source, but the characters act on it--even when it pushes them out of their comfort zone--and we cheer for their success.

Think of a favorite movie. How did the main character take action to solve his or her dilemma? Did it make the character more interesting and likable?

I think of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. When Walter leaps onto the helicopter as it takes off, I thrill over his courage. His story becomes far more interesting at that point.

We are the characters in our own life story, and taking action to solve our dilemmas can make us more interesting, too.

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. ~ Dale Carnegie

As I said... I needed this. Lately I've been rolling along letting circumstances dictate direction. I don't want to be that character. It's time to take action.

What kind of character are you in your life story?

Wish in one hand.

Writing Prompt: Write a blog post inspired by the word: wish

Geppeto wishes for a real boy, Aladdin's genie grants wishes, and in The Princess Bride (1987) Westley expresses love for Buttercup when he tells her, "As you wish."

Here's to "wish" in cinematic dialogue...

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)...

GUS PORTOKALOS

There are two kinds of people -- Greeks,
and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

I don't wish I was Greek, but I certainly wish to vacation there!

In Divergent (2014), citizens are classified as: Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent), Abnegation (the selfless), and Candor (the honest).

TRIS PRIOR

"Candor" value honesty and order.

They tell the truth,
even when you wish they wouldn't.

Yep, the truth can hurt.

I love Dory in Finding Nemo (2003). She's already conversed in whale, but awhile later when Marlin tries the language, she says...

DORY

Wow. I wish I could speak whale…

Sadly, sometimes my memory resembles hers. 

Where was I? Oh yeah..

From Jack Reacher (2012)...

JACK REACHER

… Look at the people.
Now tell me which ones are free.

Free from debt. Anxiety. Stress. Fear.

Failure. Indignity. Betrayal.

How many wish that they were

born knowing what they know now?

Count me in, Jack! Oh the mistakes I could correct... but then again... I'd just make new ones.

Did you pin any teen idols on your wall? I had Bobby Sherman, and Davy Jones in my room, so I get a kick out of this scene from The Parent Trap (1961). As Sharon watches Susan put a picture on the wall, she asks...

SHARON McKENDRICK

Who's that?

SUSAN EVERS

Are you kidding? Ricky Nelson?

SHARON McKENDRICK

Oh, your boyfriend.

SUSAN EVERS

I wish he was! You mean you've never

heard of him? Where do ya come from? 

Outer space?

A fun line from Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)...

JACK SPARROW

Captain, I wish to report a mutiny.

I can name fingers and point names.

In this scene, the goonies (The Goonies, 1985) gather coins from a wishing well, but Stef tells them to stop. Data and Mikey ask her "why?"

STEF

Because these are somebody else's wishes.

They're somebody else's dreams.

MOUTH

Yeah, but you know what?

This one,this one right here.

This was my dream, my wish.

And it didn't come true.

So I'm taking it back.

I'm taking them all back.

I tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain with a wish to return to Rome. Hasn't happened yet. I'm still wishing.

A dear friend recently passed away, so I can relate to Forrest (Tom Hanks) when he speaks to Jenny's grave (Forrest Gump, 1994)...

FORREST GUMP

Mama always said, dying was a part of life.

I sure wish it wasn't.

Me too, Forrest. I wish that too.

Jiminy Cricket sings, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you." 

Um hmm, right.  Well, my mama always said, "Wish in one hand and spit in the other. See which one fills up fastest."

Writing prompt from:

Wise words from a red panda.

Monday: Dialogue, Lines, or Quotes

Words that make me go, "Hmmm..."

In Kung Fu Panda 3, Master Shifu (a red panda) tells Po:

If you only do what you can do, you'll never be better than what you are. 

Tell me about a time you moved beyond what you thought you could do!